Backpacking in South America

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Backpacking in South America Traveler
Isla Martillo
March 9, 2018, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ☀️ -6 °C
I went on a tour today with the company «Piratour». It is the most expensive of the pinguin tours, but the only company that offers the possibility to walk on the island.

Luckily for me this other Norwegian girl from Bergen, Cathrine was going on the same trip. We met yesterday at the hostel, and it was nice to speak some norwegian again.

The tours first stop was with the flag trees you can see in my last post. The wind can get up to 150 km/h here, which is crazy!!

After that we went to a museum for sea mammols. It was really fascinating and cool to see all the huge sceletons.

We went by boat to the pinguin island and saw a whale that was playing around on the way. Amazing sight!

At the island we walked around and watched the cute little pinguins. We got very close, and one of them actually walked right over to my shoes. We got to see a emperor pinguin as well, it must have been lost because they are usually not in that area.

After this we had a 2-3 hours lovely boatride with beautiful scenery down the beagle channel. We stoped at the famous lighthouse, a bird island and a sea lion island. I loved the last stop. They are so cool! Such a nice day, and I am glad I got to enjoy it with Cathrine!

In the evening I cooked nachos for us and Sylvan and Patrick. Taco friday :D we had wine in the hostel, and it turned out to be an awesome night with a small disco and lots of fun. The hostel has so many nice people, I love the atmosphere here.Read more
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Backpacking in South America Traveler
Sea lions
March 9, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
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Laguna Temprano
March 11, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Went on a hike with Cathrine, James and Matt today. We was told is was going to be a super easy hike, like a stroll in the park. Someone confused laguna Esmeralda and this one, I think :p

It was quite steep, and definitely no walk in the park. The nature was beautiful though, and we saw a lot of wild horses. I loved that, they were so beautiful!

At the top there was a laguna and a small glacier. It was pretty, but not very special after doing so many hikes in Patagonia. We had a great trip though, and the company was awesome! Three people I am really glad I met.Read more
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Tierra del Fuego National Park
March 12, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
I went on a hike in the national park today, and chose the trail «Guanaco» that is the hardest one. It is probably true, as the whole hike is very steep! It was challenging, but in a good way. As this was my last hike in Patagonia I decided to push my body and see how much my fitness level have improved since I arrived South America 2 months ago. I can really feel the change, which is nice! I walked quite fast for the whole trip, and the last 500 metres to the top was hard as my energy started to fade.

The view from the top was breathtaking! This is definitely one of top three hikes in Patagonia for me. I loved it! At the top I could watch rainly clouds come closer, so I started the walk down together with a German guy. It didn’t take long before the hail hit us. The rapid change in the weather here still shocks me after 4 weeks. It was a nice and sunny day, and then suddenly you have hard and cold hail hitting your face.

In the evening I went for empanadas.We have been using this empanada place almost every day. The empanadas is amazing!! I spent the night drinking wine and listening to amazing music with Cathrine, Matt and James. They are such good company.

Tomorrow I will leave Ushuaia with a heavy heart after spending almost a week with some great people. I will miss them so much, especially Cathrine! Ushuaia has been amazing. I love the nature and all the hike possibilities here, and the people in the hostel was awesome.

I only did two hikes here, wish I could do more. My legs are completely finished with hiking for a while, and the inflamation is painfull. I am glad I got to nice hikes, and I am so happy about my desicion to go to Ushuaia. The town in it self is not too nice, but the surrounding scenery is amazing.Read more
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Bye Ushuaia
March 13, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C
Goodbye to the end of the world! It has been a pleasure ❤️

Spent the day going to a cafe with some people to have lunch. After we walked the harbour to make a birthday video to the mom of one of the girls in the hostel.

Such a beautiful day, with fresh snow on the mountain tops.

It was hard to say goodbye, and I left with a heavy heart and teary eyes. My flight left at 20 for Buenos Aires.Read more
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Buenos Aires and Japanese garden
March 14, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
I arrived late yesterday at my couchsurfing hosts place. He had made me a sign and left a map and chocolate in my room, so nice of him! I went with him to Evita museo/restaurant and had a birthday lunch with him and two collegues. It was a very nice place, and we had a lovely lunch.

After lunch I met with Jonathan, which I met in Villa La Angostura almost two months ago. It was so nice to see him again!

We went to the japanese garden, a small and beautiful botanical garden. We were not there for a long time before the sky opened up and heavy rain and thunderstorm took over for the sunshine. We went to sit down for a long while to wait for it to pass.

After this we was going to another park close by, but it was closed. We went to a coffeshop and got some hot drinks, as we were soaking wet and not dressed for the weather at all.

I was looking forward to going from Patagonia to sunshine and stable weather, I guess that will have to wait another day :pRead more
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Recoleta Cemetery
March 15, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
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El Ateno bookshop
March 15, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Jonathan took me to one of his favorite places in this town; El Ateno Grand Splendid. It is an amazing bookshop within a building that used to be a theatre. There is also a cafe there.

I really loved this shop, and it will probably be one of my favorites in BA as well.Read more
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Buenos Aires sightseeing
March 15, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Today me and Jonathan went exploring the city. We met up with the obelisco and went from there to Plaza nacionales unidas where they have the «metal flower». We spent some time in the park drinking mate and enjoying the weather.

After that we crossed the street and went to museo nacional de bellas artes. It was not for me :p

We went from here to the cemetery in Recoleta which I absolutely loved! The construction of the graves are beautiful. Such a special place.

After this Jonathan took me to one of his favorite places in town. As I wrote in another post here; The El Ateneo must be the most beautiful bookshop in the world!

Later in the evening I went to Palermo to meet Mariano that I also met in Villa La Angostua. Sylvian and his friend joined us for drinks at the Bowie. After me and Mariano went to a cocktail bar called Boticario. It was really cool, with the theme of a farmacy. I got super charmed by this place!Read more
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Tango show
March 16, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Today I went shopping in Flordia street. I needed some new clothes for the city. It was a nice feeling!

Later on I went with bus to River Plate stadium to get my tickets for a fotball match on sunday. I baught the ticket online, put you need to pick them up before the game. I struggled a bit with finding the right bus, and when I got there I had to walk 10 blocks extra to get a photo copy of my passport. I was quite fed up when I put my ass on the bus to go back to the apartment.

I was going to meet my host at 20.30 at TAngo Porteño. The whole day I have been thinking I had so much time, but I spent more than 4 hours to get my tickets. I got home at 19.50, and used 15 minutes to shower and get ready for the tango show. I catched an uber and managed to be there 20.40.

The show included a three course dinner and wine, which was nice after stressing around to get the tickets. The show is for tourists and is a show with a story to tell. I really enjoyed it, and the dancers was great! I will however go to another place in this town to watch more «authentic» dancing and not a show. I am super greatful for my host brining me to this show, and we had a nice evening.

After the show we went to Floreria Atlantico, which is a florist/wineshop with a bar in the basement. You enter it through a fridge door. It was a cool place!Read more
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La Boca
March 17, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
I went to Caminito in La Boca after breakfast. This is a colorful neighbourhood. I love the contrast in the colors in the buildings, but the area was too touristy for my taste.

I went to two museums there; Centro museo Quinquela Martin and Fundation Proa. The last one I loved. It had a exhebition of Ai Waiwai. Part of the exhebition was about the refugees, and with films, pictures and art connected to the «refugee crises» in Europe. That one hit me hard.

After La Boca I went to Palermo to meet up with Sylvan x 2 and celebrate St. Patricksday. Later in the evening we went out to a nightclub, and I had a lot of fun! We kept it going from 15 to 05.30, and the boys even longer. It is a hard life in the big city :p I was quite exhausted the next day.Read more
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River plate stadium
March 18, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
Today I started my day with checking in to a hostel, as I have had 6 nights with my couchsurfing hos. It was a great experience!

I was going to book «Art factory» in Palermo, but got it wrong and booked the one in San Telmo. It was okay, the hostel is cool and central for sightseeing. I went to the sunday market in San Telmo. After three hours of sleep I was quite exhausted, but really wanted to see the market. San Telmo is a cool area with a lot of vintage and crafts shops. The market was nice, but I probably would have enjoyed it more another day :p

Later on I met with Jonathan. We went for dinner before going to River Plate stadium to watch a match between River Plate and Belgrano. As in fashionable argentinian style we got there late. We was there at 20, and we missed out on fireworks, confetti and the start of the game.

It was a special experience for me to go to a game here, I loved it! The energy and passion was so high. There was songs and cheering going on the whole time! And a lot of swearing 😂 I have never seen so many men sharing so much feelings in one place before. During two hours you get to see the whole specter of feelings. River Plate won 3-1, and it was a happy night for the fans.Read more
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Puerto Madero
March 19, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 18 °C
I didn’t get out of bed before 15 today. Needed to rest a bit. I went through the neighbourhood of San Telmo, going for two museums there that was both closed.

I ended up going to Puerto Madero which is a beautiful area with a lot of parks. I walked around for quite a while, and I visited the museum of humor. After that I treated myself with sushi in a fancy restaurant.Read more
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One day in Tigre
March 21, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
One hour train ride from Buenos Aires you find Tigre. It’s a lovely town with lots of green parks and a delta. Unfortunately almost every tourist attraction is closed in weekdays, but that also meant that it was very nice and quiet there.

Me and Jonathan spent the day walking around, drinking mate in the park, eating parilla for lunch, and doing a boattrip down the river.

When arriving back in BA I went to La Cathedral with Mariano to watch tango. When we arrived it was still a tango class going on. Later on the floor was filled up with a lot of great dancers, and there was even a short preformance by a couple who dances amazing tango. La Cathedral had a special look, quite dark and mysterious. I really enjoyed my evening there. Watching tango is so much fun!Read more
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Centro sightseeing
March 21, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Today I went around in the central areas to do some sighgseeing. I have had two days in Art Factory San Telmo, but will move to Art Factory Palermo today. Figured out it was nice to see some more of the area before moving. The area around Plaza Mayor has some beutiful buildings, but the plaza itself is being renovated and was just a big construction sight right now.

In Palermo I went out with Sylvan and Sylvain, meeting with another friend of them. We went to Jolie bar. My phone got stolen, which sucks bigtime...Read more
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Parque 3 de febrero
March 23, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Today I found a new favourite spot in BA! Until now it has been Recoleta cemetary and El Ateneo bookshop. Today I went to Rosedale in Parque 3 de febrero. It is absoluely amazing! Such a beautiful park with heaps of different roses.

In the night I went for dinner and ice cream with four norwegian girls. They studt medicine here. It was a nice day, and exactly what I needed after wednesdays unfortunate turn out. Yesterday was not a good day at all.Read more
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Last day in BA
March 24, 2018 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
The time flies by so fast, and suddenly 12 days in BA is over. I went to a craft market in Recoleta in the morning and had lunch with Juan, my host last week from couchsurfing. Later I visited my new friend Rafael that lives in BA, and we had wine at the rooftop terasse where he lives. It was a nice and quiet day.

I have really enjoyed my time in this big city. A lot of great people, great food, parks, buildings and good nightlife.

My favorite places is Parque 3 de febrero, Recoleta cemetary and El Alteneo bookshop. My favorite moments was probably the soccer match and watching tango in La Cathedral.Read more
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Colonia
March 26, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Spent one night in Colonia Del Sacramento in Uruguay. Me and my friend, Jonatan arrived yesterday by boat from Buenos Aires. The boat takes one hour across the river.

We spent yesterday and today to walk around the beautiful streets and enjoy the chilled out vibe in town. Tranquilo is the word for this place. It is very touristy, but still relaxing. I love the brick streets and houses in pastel colours with flowerbushes on the outside. Yesterday we watched the sunset from the lighthouse, and you could see all the way to Buenos Aires skyskrapers.

Every local here walk around with a thermos under their arm and a cup of mate in their hand. Jonatan is fanatic about it, so I guess I will have mate in the park every day when traveling with him.Read more
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Montevideo
March 28, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
We arrived in Montevideo Monday night and checked in to Ukulele hostel which is beautiful! I really liked it.

Tuesday morning we started the day with walking the costanera. It was a nice walk with a lot of people fishing along the costanera. We had lunch in the port market here, which is a nice but touristy place with a lot of parilla (barbecue). We went on a walking tour of the old city. I went with the English talking guide and Jonathan with the Spanish group. We were only two people with the English guide. It was an interesting tour with a lot of facts and history about Uruguay. In Uruguay there is laws for equality, abortion and marijuana is legal. The old city is beautiful with a lot of nice buildings. I like the vibe in Uruguay, everything is super tranquilo - even in the big city!

Wednesday we went to a beach called Pocitos. The water is not clear, but it was a nice beach. It's my first beach day since the one day I had in Pucon. It was lovely! After the beach we went to Parque Rodo and chilled out for a bit. We later went to the bus station and got a ticket for Minas tomorrow. I also got myself a new phone, yay! Ended up buying a Xioami, whatever that is. It will probably do the job, even though I miss my iPhone sometimes.

Montevideo has been nice! I am going back for the weekend to hang out with my friend Rafael that is coming over from Buenos Aires.Read more
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Horseriding
March 29, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
We went with the bus from Minas to a place called Santa Lucia. Here we went on a 2,5 hour horse ride. It has been 18 years or something like that since I last sat on a horse. It has never been something I've been interested in. It was super scary in the beginning. After I got the hang of it I could enjoy the ride and the scenery of the countryside in Uruguay. It is super flat and somehow reminds me a bit of Denmark. Probably because of the windmills. In the end my legs was quite exhausted, but it was a really lovely experience!Read more
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Minas
March 30, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Yesterday around 12 we arrived the town Minas. We checked in to a hostel and got on another short bus ride to Santa Lucia to do horse riding, which I wrote about yesterday. Today we walked to Cerro Artiga, which is a very small hill in this flat countryside. It was a short and nice walk. After that we walked around a bit in the town and had lunch in the Plaza Independencia. Minas is a charming little place, and I could easily have spend some more days checking out the areas around the town.

We stayed in hostel Minuao, and the hosts there was very lovely and helpful!Read more
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Beach weekend
April 1, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Spent the weekend in a hostel at the beach in Montevideo with my friend Rafael. It was a lovely and chilled out weekend, just what I needed right now! Sun, beach, good food and good company, can't get any better!Read more
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Punta del Este
April 2, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
I arrived here late last night and just checked into my hostel and went to bed. I am staying in Tas D Viaje hostel, and it is great! Really good common areas and 2 minutes from the beach. The breakfast is great as well!

This morning I walked along the costanera here. There is some nice beaches, but the place suits it's reputation about being a fancy place that are expensive. There is a lot of super nice summerhouses and yachts here. I finished my walking around right before the rain started, and have just chilled out in the hostel the rest of the day. Went for a run on the beach and had salad for lunch - I think my body was grateful for that after three weeks in big cities and a lot of unhealthy food. Hopefully this week can be a bit better when it comes to that.

I will leave for La Poloma tomorrow morning. If I hadn't booked two nights in Punta del Este I would probably move on today. I think I will like the small beach towns more.Read more
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La Paloma
April 3, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
The day couldn't have started worse; with foodpoisoning and almost no sleep all night. My body was feeling exhausted and everything hurted. At 06 in the morning I ended up changing to a private room, to get some comfort and my own bathroom. I was suppose to go with a bus 07.30, but that was impossible. I was feeling really bad, and so much sorry for myself! In situations like this I think you are extra vunurable when traveling alone so far from home.

After some hours in the hostel in Punta del Este without having to run to the bathroom anymore, I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and get a new bus to La Paloma. I already booked a hostel there for the night. The owner of the hostel in Punta del Este was nice and did not charge me more for the 5 hours I spent in a private room. I checked out and got on a bus at 11 to Rocha. There I had to change to a new bus to La Paloma. The ride was not very pleasant, as I was still feeling very bad and my whole body acing.

When I arrived at the bus station in La Paloma it started raining, and I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. I made my way to the hostel, and after short time the sun came out. I brought music and my camera and went for a walk for a couple of hours at the beach. It was very beautiful and peaceful, and just what I needed to cheer up. My mood changed, and I felt so much better. La Paloma is a charming small beach town. In high season there is a lot of people here, but the summer is over and it is very quite now.

The hostel I stay in is called balconada beach hostel, and I really like it. It is right on the beach, and has a cozy common area. I have only booked one night here, and will see tomorrow if I stay more or go to Cabo Polonia. I have limited time left for Uruguay, as I take a bus to Florianopolis on Sunday.Read more
TravelerGet well soon!
4/3/18Reply
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Cabo Polonia
April 4, 2018 in Uruguay ⋅ 🌙 17 °C
I started the day with a beach walk in La Paloma, what an perfect start to the day! I took some time to sit down and watch the surfers doing their magic. Suddenly I saw a fin in the water with the surfers and almost had an heart attack, until I saw more of them and understood it was dolphins that wanted to have some fun in the waves as well - amazing!

At 14 I took the bus to Cabo Polonia visitor centre. From there you need to take a 4WD vehicle to get to town. Cabo Polonia is a national park, and regulare cars is prohibited. Already at this ride I understood that I am going somewhere very special. It was a bumpy ride on dirt road, heading towards beautiful sand dunes and beaches as long as the eye can see, and in the middle of this you find the charming small town called Cabo Polonia. I was super impressed by the scenery during the drive to the village.

I went to my hostel (Lobo bar) and checked in. The staff was super friendly and welcoming. When I entered the door one of the guy told the other one "es la chica de noruego". I guess they don't get many of them here, and my pale skin made it quite obvious for them. The hostel is simple, but that is what you should expect here. The whole town is without electricity and running water. They use sole cell panels, and get water from a well. It is around 100 habitants here. A lot of the houses looks empty now that the summer is over.

The town is super charming and hippie. I loved it from the moment I saw it! The nature is beautiful, with sand dunes and amazing beaches. I went for a walk with a German girl that I met in the hostel. We saw most of the city, the lighthouse where you have Uruguay's second largest sea lion colony, and then went to watch the sunset at the beach while enjoying the "Marley" alfajores. That's a chocolate/dulce de leche thing that I was told is made for people craving sweets when smoking marijuana (which is legal in Uruguay, I stick to the chocolate tho). The sunset was beautiful. A dog came and cuddled up with us at the beach. What an beautiful day!

After the sunset we went back to the hostel to take a shower, and I was happy I brought a head torch. The hostel has some light, mostly candles but some running on the power from the sol cells. They do also have showers with water from the well / the earth. Very simple, but enough to get away most of the sand.

I went out in the garden and laid down on a bench to watch the stars. The town is almost completely dark except for the lighthouse, so the sky is super clear. It was the perfect day for star watching. No clouds, amazing view!

The hostel offered dinner for the guests, fish and potatos. I really like the staff and the vibe here. Such a good atmosphere.

Today was a perfect day! I will stay here until Friday, but no more because of the bus schedules. I could probably stay here for a week, just soaking up sun and the amazing atmosphere in town. This is the definition for chilled out. All of Uruguay is a super chilled country, but this must be the most chilled out place there is. My tips will definitely be to skip Punta Del Este, that for me was soulless, and go and spend time at one of the beautiful small beach towns a long the coast.Read more
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